Bharatanatyam

Courtesy, film songs and the manner dancers are shown in skimpy & provoking attire, the dance form of Bharatnatyam is wrongly perceived by most of the population who are unaware of the true form of this dance. In the name of attempting to modernize the original dance form is made lost.

Bharata-natyam is one of the India’s oldest dance forms. It is not just a dance but a devotional act. Bharata Natyam is a medium of Bhakti to reach the Almighty. Bharata Natyam is music in visual form. This dance originated from the Natya Shastra written by Bharata, a sage who lived long ago (400 BCE - 200 BCE). It is, at times, given an etymology as: Bha for Bhava or abhinaya (expression), Ra for raga (melody), and Ta for tala (rhythm).

One would observe the sculptures in Hindu temples resemble the dance postures of Bharata Natyam. In a Hindu temple, the deity is the chief guest. Hence, He has to be offered services named Shodasha Upachara "sixteen hospitalities” that pleases Him. Music & Dance are among the sixteen hospitalities. So, in the past, many Hindu temples maintained complements of trained musicians and dancers.

The movements of a Bharatanatyam dancer resemble the movements of a dancing flame. So, Bharatanatyam is considered to be a fire-dance — the mystic manifestation of fire element in the human body. It is one of the five major styles, one for each element that includes Odissi (element of water) and Mohiniattam (element of air).

In olden days, this dance was performed only by females and only inside the temples as it was revered as a service to the deity. These dancers were called Devadasis. A devadasi had to satisfy own soul. She has to dance unwatched and offer herself or surrender to the Lord. The dance was more a meditation. Devadasis were accompanied by artists who would sing and play instruments. They were well versed in Sanskrit & other languages so they can interpret compositions they perform. Devadasis lost their place in the society, courtesy changed morals.

Later, the kings invited these devadasis to perform in their courts. Dance vacated temples and came out losing its sanctity. They were termed as Rajanartakis. The accompanying artistes too were provided shelter along these dancers. Thus a new category of dancers were formed. It’s a different story that these rajanartakis gradually became royal concubines.

Bharatanatyam is a solo dance, with two aspects, lasya, the graceful feminine lines & movements, and tandava, masculine aspect. The Natya Shastra-based dance styles were sacred ceremonies conceived in order to spiritually elevate the spectators. However, when it entered the royal courts, it was performed to entertain others rather than satisfying one’s soul. Thus, the theme of the recitals and the techniques got changed.

With the invasion of Muslim rulers, Bharatanatyam lost its place. In the first half of the 19th century the dance tradition was revitalized by the famous four brothers known as the Tanjavur Quartet (Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah & Vadivelu). By coordinating their diverse talents, they organized all the basic dance movements into a progressive series of lessons (adavu). Each adavu (basic unit of motion) was taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed sequences based upon the rhythmic contour of a musical composition. In addition, the brothers composed music specifically for the dance. This can be termed as one of the most innovative periods in the Indian dance history.

Bharatanatyam comprises of three basic elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya.
¨ Nritta: Rhythmic Element. Interprets the language of rhythm with the help of body movements
¨ Nritya: Combination of Rhythm with Expression. Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gestures and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.
¨ Natya: Dramatic Element. Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.

Nritta can be divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of one leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make 1 Angahara. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashastra. The 13 Nritta Hastas are used to perform nritta. The rhythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Adavus. Number of adavus constitutes a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Teermana.

There are varieties of Adavus like Tattadavu, Mettadavu, Natadavu, Kattadavu, Kudittamettadavu, Maiadavu, Mandiadavu, Jati, Nadai, Ardi. There are 12 aduvas in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total though only 70 ~ 80 are in practice. Adavus are often confused with the 108 Karanas that are carved in the Chidambaram Temple.

The body is divided into three parts Anga, Pratyanga, Upanga. When all Angas (main body parts) coordinate (along with pratyanga and upaanga) the artist is said to have Angashudhi. Anga means body parts and shudhi means perfect. Every dancer should try to achieve this perfection. The irony is, today’s parents start questioning the date of Arangetram right from the day they enroll their wards to learn Bharatanatyam. The Natyashastra, which talks about all aspects of Bharatanatyam, quotes shlokas to perform all the above movements.

The expressions which are shown to express poetic meanings are Abinaya. Here the emphasis is more on facial expressions than rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as Angikabhinaya, Vachikabhinaya, Aharyabhinaya, Satvikabhinaya.
Angikabhinaya: Expressing the meanings of lyrics using the body parts like Head, Hands, and Legs etc. is Angikabhinaya.
Vachikabhinaya: Expressing the story using narrations in the dance drama is Vachikabhinaya. Aharyabhinaya: Imitating the costumes, in a dance comes under Aharyabhinaya
Satvikabhinaya: Showing the Bhava (moods) come under Satvikabhinaya.

There are nine primary emotions, Sthayibhavas. It is also termed as Rasa (Mood). Shringara – Love, Hasya – Mirth, Veera – Valor, Roudra – Anger, Bhayanaka – Terror, Bheebatsa – Disgust, Adbhuta – Wonder, Karuna – Compassion, Shanta – Tranquility. Vatsalya(Parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava. Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate emotions) constitute the state of rasa.

The styles of Pandanallur, Tanjavur, Vazhuvoor, Mysore, Kancheepuram were based on rajdasi art whereas the styles of Melattur and Balasaraswati are different. The contributions of E. Krishna Iyer, Rukmini Arundale, Balasaraswati cannot be ignored in the 20th century to this art form.

Balasaraswati once said that "the effort to purify Bharatanatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". Let there be new concepts but not change the dance form. Most of the contemporary choreographers and dancers may use some of the formal Bharatanatyam technique to stage ballets on various themes such as nationalism, unity of religions, the animal rights activism, etc. Most recently, some dancers managed to draw their divine inspiration even from Condom Songs.

Although Bharatanatyam has gone through various changes, it still has its roots deep into the religious & rich mythological heritage of India. The true Bharatanatyam, should not be a vulgar form of entertainment but a sacred ritual that is supposed to bring the rasanubhava (spiritual enlistment) to the rasika (audience) and the dancer. Contemporary Bharatanatyam is rarely practiced as Natya Yoga, a sacred tradition of meditation, except by a few orthodox schools.

Kumble - Over and Out

The announcement has come finally. Indeed it is painful. Anil Kumble decided to hang his boots. After an 18-year long spell of bowling for the country, this gentleman had made his announcement when it was not expected. It is agreed that the time has come for the Big Five of the Indian Cricket to announce their retirement; however, this is not too late as the media cries. All of them still have some cricket left in them.

India always boasted about its strength of spin bowling and the stories of spin quartet is discussed much even today. We had sensational spinners in between however, very few of them lasted for a decent time if not long. The state of Karnataka earlier produced another leg-spinner Chandra whose success was much attributed to the problems in his wrist, a blessing in disguise.

This bespectacled engineer, when made his debut, was literally frowned upon by one and all of the media and cricketing critics. It was true that this lad gained his place in cricketing arena as a medium pace bowler. He is not the conventional spinner, who maintained the arc of the flight, tempted the batsman to come down the crease, or teased the player to play half-volley shots over extra-cover to land in a catch – but Jumbo is different.

Anil is not similar to BS Chandra nor could we compare him with other great leggies of India say, VV Kumar or Hirwani! It is also a fact these two talented spinners could not last long in the cricketing arena.

Every time someone talked about Anil, parallels were drawn comparing him to Shane Warne or Muralitharan. Indeed they were class apart but oldies might still argue that Murali lacked the charm of a Gibbs or Prasanna or Traicos (played for South Africa, East Africa and later Zimbabwe). Jumbo cannot bowl a doosra nor he can turn the ball as Shane Warne or Mushtaq used to do.

Despite all these, Jumbo has played this game for eighteen long years. All these years, he spearheaded the bowling attack. It is a fact that even today, he is our trump card. One cannot forget the evening that after breaking his jaw, he came out, bowled and took wickets too. Even in the last leg of his career, he had his fingers hurt, still he came out and bowled and took wickets.

Common Indian sportsmen do not have this killing instinct in them but Jumbo had it in him. He led by example and his attitude was contagious that inspired Indian attack and a spoiled brat like Bhajji.

Every journey has to come to an end and the Era is ended. Indian cricket will be missing this great fighter of the game and it will take quite some time to fill in this void. Anil maintained that it is the body forced him to declare his retirement.

Jumbo kept on fighting critics since his debut, but this time the aging factor added fuel to the fire generated by the critics. The media could not wait for Kumble’s retirement to see their chocolate boy Dhoni donning the captaincy of India. They targeted all the seniors in the team and they got 2 wickets in the process. The other one is in the line. The wall, Dravid seems to be losing his confidence more than his game attributed to the mindless bashing of the media. Kumble or Dravid, never remained in the good books of the media as Dhoni or Sachin did. I feel that media’s mindless critics aggravated the retirement decision of this great cricketer!

Women in politics?

Women in Politics – it is not that as if they do not exist. However, the perception is that the representation ratio is not equal. So, they explore the possibilities of increasing by the way Indian politicians knew better – reservation. Even as the women's reservation Bill repeatedly flounders in Parliament, it should be recognized that this process has a long history.

In 1917, a delegation of Indian women put up its demand for franchise before secretary of state Ewin Montagu. In the 1920s, the right to vote was granted to propertied women. They were, however, not allowed to participate in legislatures. Courtesy, constant lobbying by the Women's Indian Association, this right to contest was granted in 1930. Muthulakshmi Reddy became the first woman legislator. In the Round Table Conference held in 1930, two women activists, Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz and Radhabai Subbarayan, pleaded for 5 per cent reservation for women in the legislatures.

Other women activists, did not appreciate this sort of favor-seeking but were in favor of universal adult suffrage through which women would automatically carve out their political niche. The Government of India Act, 1935, which broadened the franchise base, provided for formal induction of women in the political process both in reserved and general seats. Provincial elections held under the Act returned 56 women against 1,500 seats — 41 from reserved constituencies, 10 from general constituencies and five nominated. Besides, 30 women were elected to the Central Assembly, including Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz. In the 1940s, when the Pakistan movement picked up momentum, there was large-scale political participation of women, albeit along communal lines.

In the constituent assembly the idea of reserved seats for women found no favor with members. As late as in 1975 the Committee on the Status of Women in India rejected the idea. In 1980, the women's lobby was able to force the Planning Commission to allocate 30 per cent funds in poverty alleviation schemes with women as specific target group beneficiaries, a departure from the earlier family-centered approach. It, however, took many more years before reserved seats for women were granted, though only at village and district level local bodies.

Through the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1993, it was provided that local bodies at those levels should have at least 33 per cent seats reserved for female members, of which one-third must belong to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. More than one million women function in these bodies as members, which certainly is a great experiment, notwithstanding the fact that many function as proxies of their husbands, fathers or brothers.

All said and done, I am at loss to understand how women’s participation in politics would add value to the process. I am ready to take the brickbats that I will get from the women friends. Nor I am bothered about being labeled as Male chauvinist pig. (After-all, my origin is from Sreemushnam, where the deity Lord Vishnu who Himself appears in the form of a pig).

Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels and why women would like to take plunge in this? In my career of 20 years, I have observed that women, once married, shifts priority to family over their career. I welcome this. Unless they build a good family, a good society cannot be built. They are experts in this! One cannot have the best of both the worlds. If they have to take care of the country, they cannot pay attention to their family. A country cannot flourish by destroying a family.

What we learn from history is we do not learn from history. There are cases that women proved to be examples of misrule. Be it Indira Gandhi, Jayalalita, Mayawati, Sonia – all of them did more harm than doing good to the State. Bandaranayike, Benazir, Marcos – one can have a long list of women who stood examples of misrule.

Every one of us has a core competency and women’s core competency is to build a nice home. I would prefer them concentrating on their core skills.

Whose fault?

“Who are they?” my son asked me.

“I’ll tell you later!”

“Why do they look so different?” he could not wait.

“Let them go! I will explain later!”

“Why not now?

By now that person took the seat that got vacated. As the person sat, the lady sitting next to the vacated seat got up and stood aside.

“Kyon uth gayee? Hum achoot hai kya? Mera koi galti hai? (Why you got up? Are we untouchables? Did I commit any mistake?)” the eunuch asked. I could feel that she is crying.

“Why did that lady say so? What sin did she do?’ my son perturbed me. I will have a tough time explaining him. However, it kept some bells ringing in my mind. “Whose fault is this?”

Transgender communities have existed in most parts of the world with their own identities, customs and rituals. The hijra (Eunuch) community in India, which has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, was considered to have special powers because of its third-gender status.

Mentioning of Hijras can be traced back to Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Rama, while leaving for the forest upon being banished from the kingdom for 14 years, turns around to his followers and asks all the `men and women' to return to the city. Among his followers the hijras alone do not feel bound by this direction and decide to stay with him. Impressed with their devotion, Rama sanctions them the power to confer blessings on people on auspicious occasions like childbirth and marriage, and also at inaugural functions. This set the stage for the custom of badhai in which hijras sing, dance and confer blessings.

The legend in the Mahabharata is that Aravan, the son of Arjuna and Nagakanya, offers to be sacrificed to ensure the victory of the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war. The only condition that he made was to spend the last night of his life in matrimony. Since no woman was willing to marry one who was doomed to be killed, Krishna assumes the form of a beautiful woman called Mohini and marries him. The hijras of Tamil Nadu consider Aravan their progenitor and call themselves aravanis.

Considering themselves neither men nor women, members of this so-called ‘third sex’ generally adopt feminine names, dress like women and are traditionally referred to as ‘she.’ Faced with lives of isolation, poverty and public ridicule, eunuchs often resort to prostitution for economic survival and beg on streets. Such people never gain the affection or support of their families, a desire that for many will remain just another dream for them. Suffering from a sexual identity crisis and physical deformities, they could not talk to anyone in her family and was labeled a ‘sinner’ for behaving like a girl.

The discrimination based on their gender makes the hijra community the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The hijras in India find it hard to get a good education, employment opportunities are rare. Most public and private companies use several excuses to deny employment. Hijras in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they can be protected from prejudice and abuse.

Reports show that this prejudice is translated into violence, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. The systematic violence that hijras face is reinforced by the family, media. The worst part is, it is given legitimacy by the legal system.
The hijra community is deprived of several rights under civil law as Indian law recognizes only two sexes. This means that hijras do not have the right to vote, marry and own a ration card or a driving license, or claim employment and health benefits.

Under the law, the local government was required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were ‘reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code’. The law also decreed eunuchs as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a gift, drawing up a will or adopting a child.

According to the Indian medical establishment, trans-sexualism is defined as a `gender identity disorder'. The doctors usually prescribe a sexual reassignment surgery (SRS), which resorts to hormone therapy and surgical reconstruction that may include electrolysis, speech therapy and counseling. Surgical construction could include the removal of male sex organs and the construction of female ones. Since government hospitals and qualified private practitioners do not usually perform SRS, many hijras go to quacks, thus placing themselves at serious risk. Neither the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) nor the Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated any guidelines to be followed in SRS. The attitude of the medical establishment has only reinforced the low sense of self-worth that many hijras have at various moments in their lives.

The law that is used most to threaten the hijra communities in India, is Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" even if it is voluntary. In effect, it criminalizes certain kinds of sexual acts that are perceived to be `unnatural'. The law, which has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against the order of nature", thus making this entire lot of marginalized communities vulnerable to police harassment and arrest.

If God made mistake in His creation, we blew it out of proportion with our wrong approach towards them. They need your care and not your alms or sympathy! Educating the eunuchs and accommodating them in the mainstream society is the only solution to end the numerous troubles faced by them. Most of them can be pulled out of prostitution by providing employment. The Indian society should come forward to accommodate these people with the mainstream society.

Sand on Soil

http://ngkjrs69.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/10/one-of-india-s-unsung-heroes.htm

There is no dearth of temples in India that you can find many of them even on all Indian highways but to locate a public-toilet is difficult. Unfortunately, this is the importance we give to toilets! We always felt that to defecate in public is nothing wrong! An interesting observation by the Indian Planning commission is as follows:

Nearly 80% of the country's population still either defecate in open or use unsanitary bucket latrines or smelly public toilets. This is true even in urban areas where hardly 20 per cent of the population has access to water/flush toilets connected to a sewerage system & only 14% enjoy water-borne toilets connected to septic tanks or leach pits. In rural areas a mere 3% of the population has access to sanitary toilets. This lack of adequate sanitation is responsible for diseases like Cholera, dysentery, typhoid, para-typhoid, infectious hepatitis etc that costs our lives.

In 1967, a 25 year-old youth named Bindeshwar Pathak was hunting for a job. A family friend promised him a good job, in the Gandhi Centenary Committee at Rs.600 per annum. The promised job wasn't there. The Centenary Committee’s term was nearing its end. Chief Ministers changed; Salaries were just numbers in books, no money received in hand. There was no Rs.600 job instead there was a temporary one at Rs.12 per month. Pathak hung-in there in hope of a 'permanent' job someday.

Rajendra Lal Das, a member of Sarvodaya urged Pathak to devote himself on scavenger liberation or Bhangi Mukti. Bhangis are those who removed the night-soil of others. Pathak went to live in a Bhangi colony in Bettiah. The three months there revealed that people who cleaned others' toilet did not care to keep their own, clean.

The only solution was to make toilets maintenance-free and re-train the scavenger caste for other occupations. The western-style flush toilet and centralized water-borne sewage system was too unaffordable for India. Pathak remembered the slogan of Gandhiji, 'tatti par mitti' (soil over shit) - compost it! The World Health Organization [WHO], many years after Gandhiji and after much research with all available solutions, said "out of heterogeneous mass of latrine designs, the pit privy emerges as the most universally applicable type." It was low-cost, needed little water, did not pollute (it instead turned waste into resource), offered privacy, could be built quickly, locally, and most all needed no scavengers to maintain.

Sulabh but not so sulabh! (Easy but not)
Sulabh Sauchalya Sansthan (Simple Toilet Institution) was formed in 1970. Pathak realized that the pit privy was suitable for not just rural but for urban India also. A deeply sloping toilet pan was developed to enable effective flushing with just a mug of water. Not only the water was conserved but there was no excess water to leach and pollute ground water. A standard, two pits and a toilet-pan, connected by a Y-channel was developed, which enabled quick switch soon as one pit filled, after say 6 months. Many variations of the Pan-Y-Two concept were developed to suit local conditions.

There was no money for Sulabh as the Governments were not keen. Grants were approved but never materialized. IAS officers promised much but were transferred, before they could act. One would list exactly the set of circumstances as reasons for not being involved in India. Pathak's obsession with scavenger eradication, however, made him hang in there.

After a three year wait, Pathak went back to selling home-cure bottles. But the Sulabh obsession never left him. Finally in the town of Arrah, Bihar, he approached a Municipal officer to retail the Sulabh idea. He had an order within minutes. The officer was enthusiastic and at once paid an advance amount of Rs.500 for two public toilets. Thus born India's first two-pit, maintenance-free privy in 1973 by Pathak using local masons.

From Arrah, also emerged the Sulabh business model that holds well till this day - Sulabh will insist on advance payments but will seek no subsidies, donations, loans or grants. Orders followed in quick succession and soon made the entire Sulabh operation self-sustaining. Soon in 1974, Patna got a grand public toilet with 48 seats, 10 urinals and 20 baths for Rs.60,000/-.

It became the talk of the town. All Sulabhs are pay-toilets, in order to make their maintenance sustainable. People were amazed that the public, that would dodge bus fares, would pay to use the toilet. Legislators and ministers visited the site daily to see this social miracle. Unfortunately, they did not learn the lesson therein: build a quality service and people will pay.

Sulabhs began to sprout everywhere. The first step was to get municipalities not to retrench them. Sulabh began training courses to enable scavengers take up carpentry, tailoring, etc. Some women have even become beauticians- some change that, for the once untouchables. It started a school for where English-medium courses are run to enhance their self-esteem. A research wing at Sulabh constantly develops related technologies. There have been bio-gas generators, water clarifiers, compost granulators, and of course new design variations of the Pan-Y-Two system. There's a toilet museum in the Sulabh campus in Delhi to make people comfortable enough to discuss the sanitation issue.

But the task is huge. Over 7 million toilets are still being scavenged by human beings in India. We need 10 million toilets to eradicate scavenging. Get a measure of that task by noting that in 30 years Sulabh has managed to build just 1.5 million of them. More people, groups and towns have to get active. The Sulabh model works.

How many of us are aware of Mr. Pathak? Despite the huge success, there are states that are unaware of Sulabh. Bindeshwar Pathak did not get the due recognition and I am sure most of the Indians might not have even heard of him. This is how we respect our heroes. We neither recognize them nor do we follow them. Pathak is an unsung hero. His services are to be glorified so that it inspires the younger generation!

Mission Accomplished

Disclaimer: All the characters and incidents are ficitious. Any resemblence is a sheer coincidence only!

Lt. Gajendra Singh was summoned by Major General. “Your leave is sanctioned and you are proceeding on leave from tomorrow. But be back by 2nd of next month. You have only 20 days. My advance congratulations on your marriage1”

Gajendra could not believe it even now. He is standing on the railway platform waiting for his train. 4 days will be lost in train and hardly 15 days. Still, his face was gleaming. Suddenly, he heard a familiar noise that is of shooting. He saw two militants on the over-bridge linking platforms 3, 4, 5 & 6 firing from top onto the platform creating panic among public.

“Gajji you need to act!” he told to himself. Gajji climbed the bridge from rear side through the metallic pillars. He held one of the terrorists from behind and strangled his neck literally. The firing from this terrorist went haywire. Seeing this, the first terrorist now shot at Gajendra and two bullets pierced Gajji’s back. Gajendra took shield behind the second terrorist. The bullets went through the terrorist and he died. Gajendra is severely hit and hardly could walk. But he was determined. He took the gun from the second terrorist and started walking towards the first terrorists firing continuously on him. In the end the terrorist too died.

“Mission accomplished!” was the last words uttered by Gajendra. He fell like an uprooted tree. With him shattered the hopes of his parents who were waiting for him eagerly and the dreams of the young girl who was supposed to tie the nuptial knot.



Blessed are those parents who gave a birth to such brave hearts who put their life ahead of country. If such sacrifices do not inspire us to focus our actions towards the welfare of our country, we better call ourselves as traitors! Our ministry would recommend Gajendra’s name for Pam Vir Chakra award. The entire nation salutes brave hearts like Lt. Gajendra Singh Thakur”

The minister was going through the draft again. “It needs another round of editing. This statement should act as a slap on the face of the opposition who are determined to eject me out. All these male chauvinist pigs are making repeated statements that a woman can never be a strong and stern minister. With this single incident, I will make every one of them bite the dust! Let me meet the Prime Minister first” Saying this, the minister headed to meet the Prime Minister.

“my friend, you are aware, I am not against anyone. We are all here because of one person. None of our actions should antagonize him. I would advice to consult him before we make any such statement!”

The minister accompanied by the Prime Minister was waiting in the lounge. It is almost midnight and almost all the news channels had flashed this news. “Sir! Any delay would further damage our reputation. Do you still feel we need to talk to him? I don’t think he will oppose it! It’s a tactical move that will prove to a shot in our arm!”

Suddenly the Prime Minister got up from his chair and so did the minister. “What’s up? Its so late in the night.” Both briefed him the entire story. The man in his nightgown sat on the sofa tapping his cigarette ashes onto the tray.

“I would say let us wait and watch. You see this is election year! What happened is happened. We got rid of two terrorists. However, let us not react and go overboard in this issue. It might boomerang on our votes as one particular community will feel isolated away from us. I do not want to take chances in this year.” He paused for a while and extinguished his cigarette. He got up and went closer to the window.

He continued, “This jawan has not done this when he is on duty! He was proceeding on a leave. Let us term it as fake!" The man showed no expression and was cool. "It was his personal animosity and he killed two Muslims. A commission will be set up to inquire on the incidents happened. you see!, Hindus can be divided on region, language, caste etc., but you can’t do this with Muslims. The people will forget everything in 2 weeks time. I am concerned about the elections. If we win, we will change our stances based on the findings of the commission! As far as your continuance in the cabinet, let people cry! They are not the ones who decide the cabinet. It’s me! Why do you worry! Now let’s go. Take care! Good night!”

Facts behind Mangalore clashes

I am against any sort of terrorism because that is not the right way of achieving any thing. however, at times, tolerance is taken for granted and things go out of control. This becomes worse when such activities are given a legitimacy by the rulers and media. Any affair pertaining to religion is sensitive and that is too sensitive in India. The only irony is in India, it is selective! The results are suppression of one particular religion for no fault of theirs! so, they are bound to behave like barbarians at time and that is blown out of proportion. The recent Mangalore clashes are like that. The real facts are forgotten or hidden by the media to the public. This blog is all about that.

http://greathindu.com/2008/09/denigration-of-hindu-gods-reason-for-christian-attack/

The Indian media has presented a distorted version of Hindu-Christian clashes in Mangalore. Here are the facts

1. The Following are the list of abuses from one such book – Satya Darshini – distributed by the missionaries of New Life. This book is in Kannada and the translation of the abusive passage is as follows.

Urvashi – the daughter of Lord Vishnu – is a prostitute. Vashitha is the son of this prostitute. He in turn married his own Mother. Such a degraded person is the Guru of the Hindu God Rama. (page 48)

When Krishna himself is wallowing in darkness of hell, how can he enlighten others? Since Krishna himself is a shady character, there is a need for us to liberate his misled followers. (page 50)·

It was Brahma himself who kidnapped Sita. Since Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were themselves the victims of lust, it is a sin to consider them as Gods. (page 39)

When the Trinity of Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are consumed by lust and anger, how can they liberate others. Their projection as Gods is nothing but a joke. (page 39).

When Vishnu asked Brahma to commit a sin, he immediately did so. How can such a "evil brahma" be a Creator of this Universe? How is it possible for both the sinner and the entity which provoked the sin to be gods? (page 39)

God, please liberate the sinful people of India who are worshipping False Gods that believe in the pleasures of illicit 'Vyabichari' relationships. (Page 39).
1. All the 16 incidents that took place were not attack on Churches. In fact, unauthorized prayer halls were attacked where the blasphemous pamphlets were distributed and aggressive proselytisation was taking place. These 16 incidents were not localized but took place across three districts of Mangalore, Udupi and Chikmagalur.
2. The only place where attacks took place apart from New Life Prayer Halls (Almost all pentecoastal churches are New life churches - they are termed as Born-again in Africa. They indulge in conversion) was at a small prayer hall in the premises of Milagres Church in Mangalore, where some miscreants had damaged a Jesus idol. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal have condemned the attack at this place. Following this incident, a Christian mob gathered and the situation went out of control as the mob started pelting stones and disrupting traffic. The police was forced to intervene and this resulted in unsavory violence.
3. Since the past two days, it is not Hindu-Christian clashes that are taking place. In fact, it is more appropriate to call it "Christian-Police" clashes since the Christians holed up in Churches have engaged themselves in pelting of stones and disruption of traffic. The Police were forced to enter the Church to clear the mob and they found arms inside the Church.
4. Incidents of Stabbing were reported in around four or five places across Mangalore district. In fact, an activist belonging to Shri Ram Sena was stabbed which led to a bandh call by Shri Ram Sena – a Hindu outfit that is not connected to Sangh Parivar.
5. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal have condemned the desecration of Jesus idol at the prayer hall adjacent to the Milagres Church in Mangalore. They have also clarified that they are not against the Catholic faith and the Churches. However, they have clarified that the public outcry would continue as long as illicit conversion activities and blasphemy of Hindu gods take place.
6. Even the Kandhmahal murder — which involved the killing of Hindu monk Swami Lakshmananda by missionaries – seems to have caste a shadow on this incident since the general public seems to have seen through Christian aggression.
7. It may be recalled that there was a public outcry against illegal prayer halls in Davanagere district last week. In that case, the administration had closed the unauthorized prayer halls that were mushrooming in the region.

Flipping though journal - a fiction

10th Jan1984: Appa screamed at me that is nothing new. But he did it in front of all in the tenants. Even she was there! “If you keep scoring only this much, you can land up only to clean the tables at a Udipi Hotel.” Is securing 75% too less? I am perplexed. What would have she thought of me?

12th Feb’84: It’s Sunday. I went to Nagraj’s place for watching a movie in TV. “Students do group-study and you went like a beggar to watch a movie at somebody’s house? When will you realize? Don’t come to me if you scored less than 85~90%” I felt the gap widening between me and my father!

20th Feb’84: “You scored only 78% in revision exams. I am worried! My BP is rising! Will you ever realize?” Appa was furious. He started sweating. Signs of caution! “Appa I will score more than 85% please relax” He went to bed with worries in head.

24th Mar’84: Exams are over! Although I don’t know Hindi I watched kunwaara baap in TV because she did. I have to learn Hindi. What will Appa say? “you cannot score more than 75 now and if you spend time on Hindi, you will not cross 70. I did not learn Hindi still I survived” Should I not do because you did not?

8th Jun’84: One week left for results to come. Robert came today and told me that I scored 82%. I did not believe. His relative is in DPE. He came with marks of everyone in our group. I did not tell my parents. I don’t know whether this is real? Should I tell her?

15th Jun’84: Results are out and Robert was true. Appa did not say anything. He wanted me to be an engineer. Will I get a seat? I started hating reservation policy from today. She came to me today to tell they are shifting. I lost interest in everything today.

29th Jun’84: Appa yelled at me. “I broke my head & you didn’t listen. I have to shed the savings which I did for Anu’s marriage as to get a seat for you!” I said, “I don’t want to study by paying so much. If you believe me, give me the money I will return you with interest in 3 years for Anu’s marriage!” Hearing this, he was shocked and had an attack! Did I say something wrong?

01st Sep’08: “I knew appa you must be laughing at me breaking my heads with my son who does not want to take up my business enterprise but would like to become a free-lance photographer? He asks, “should I do because you did?”

ELOPE

The inspiration source for this story is my cousin's pudukavitai:
adutta veettukkaranudan

odinal

legiyakaran manaiviHere the story goes...

Everyday is hectic. Unless I got up in the wee hours of morning and run all day to return home at night, I cannot make ends meet. I hope my wife realizes this. I do business. It is tough.

I am an illiterate orphan still I do business; business of selling medicinal paste for ever-lasting youth. The market is big, but the competition is bigger. My daily routine starts at 5am.

Carrying a sack of medicines in variety of jars (thank PET, no longer the cases break), a public announcement system, an attractive banner, I go from place to place. I don’t have a regular spot. I can’t have one. I locate a corner or a spacious road bank and open up my shop. I scream on top of my voice to sell my products.

I prefer crowds as they woo prospects! Pulling crowd is easy but they hardly buy!

“What’s it?”

“Medicinal Paste for ever-lasting youth”

“means…?”

“You will last longer, you can satisfy your…”

“(what’s) guarantee?”

“Just have a spoonful; you will feel it as hard as this lamp-post!”

He literally blushed on this comment. Being in this business, I can’t afford to. I need to talk like this in this business.

“How much?”

“---- for a jar”

“Too expensive!” he hesitated.

“Don’t hesitate. Better spend money than losing your partner..”

The comment may be harsh but did the trick. He bought it. My day goes like this. There will be more such guys and more such comments. I have to earn. I have a commitment. All days are not same. Earning Rs100/- a day is very difficult unless I slog my balls!

Again I am late. It’s eight in the evening and I am starting now. It will take another 2 hours to reach home. I too dislike it but I can’t help it. It’s my business. I don’t know what’s in store today for me at my home.

“Why the lights are not on? Why the door is locked? Where would have she gone, at this time..?” I am clueless. I opened the hut and entered. The house is clean as usual; perhaps more cleaner. “What’s up? I don’t see her trunk box in its place. Nor I saw any of her saris hanging on the ropes running across walls. A ball moved up from my stomach to choke my throat. Something is wrong cautioned my senses as I found a chit.

“Its 3 years we are married. I am not blessed with a child. Only earning is not a prime duty of a man. He needs to please his wife. You failed in it. Don’t search for me. I am eloping with our neighborhood boy!”

Why blame the Government?

It has become a routine for us to blame the Government for any thing that happens around the society. Perhaps, all of us are unaware that the Government is working tirelessly to combat terrorism in India. Our Home Minister, Mr. Shivraj Patil is busy working out road-maps on combating terrorism that he could not find time to come out of his office and have a look around.

Soniaji, committed to secularism and equality to Muslims all over the world had directed the Prime Minister of India to issue statements against terrorism. To be precise, we should not call it as Islamic terrorism just because some people who claim themselves as Muslims are involved in it. It is an act of cowardice and the Government had repeatedly reiterated it whenever bomb blasts shook our cities. This efficient act of Government is supported by the likes of Laluji, CPM and CPI, of late Mulayamji, Paswanji.

Just because some fake emails are sent challenging Indian intelligence and Police agencies, the Government is not stupid enough to ban a committed organization like SIMI. As long as SIMI is convicted in Indian courts, we cannot ban this organization. They are on a noble cause that their religion had advised them to carry out. A secular government cannot interfere and why don’t the right wing parties and their supporters understand this? The Government will ensure that its police force will not gather details against SIMI so as to ban and the minorities can be rest assured of being harassed wrongly.

The Government never hesitated to dole out the tax payers’ money to the victims of blasts in the name of solatium though it failed to counter it. After all Indian tax payers are paying tax for what? Don't they know it is just to compensate the wrong doings of the Government? If the citizens thought that these taxes supposed to be utilized for infra-structural development, is it the fault of the Government? Why blame the Government always?

Why don’t the citizens of India consider this? Because of the efforts of the Government they are alive today to make a comment. If at all the citizens realize this, they should not be criticizing the Government. The Government is taking cautious approach to the problems faced by it from time and again. Elections are due next year and we count on the votes. None of the Government’s action should antagonize the voters? Those who criticize the government on blogsites would never come out to vote and why should the government bother about them?

Those who blame the Government should first take initiatives to select a Government. They have no other job but to keep on barking. Government knows what to do and how to do? There are many innocent muslims in India who are harassed by the Police in the name of investigation. HR activists groups will pounce on us and the Government will go all out to protect the minorities’ rights. If some died on bomb blasts so what? It’s good that the population has got reduced and isn’t this a great service to the nation?

JAI HIND!

Action & Inaction costs the nation

No longer are we Indians. At the least this is the perception one gets as we scroll through news reports. Taking law into one’s hands is no longer a surprise however; it gets legitimacy if the tag named regionalism is added to it.

I am not here to write about the misdeeds of Raj or Bal Thackrey. They do not deserve a space in this blogsite. All of us are aware that these are cheap tactics applied by the goondas dressed as politicians. All I want to do is to record my protest on the Government both State & Central who turned a blind eye to all these happenings.

Here is a man, who sets a deadline to all the vendors across the state to change the name-boards to Marathi. He also gives an implicit threat that if they did not oblige they will meet dire consequences created by his army-men! I understand that a common man cannot risk himself to question them on who is he to make such statements. But the common man is let down by the Government, who was elected by him, when they preferred to keep silent instead of assuring vendors of protection from such an unruly act!

The same man preferred to forgive (or forget) Priyanka Chopra when she said she would like to speak in Hindi but his marathi ego was challenged when Jaya Bachan said the same thing. Perhaps, because she is a member of SP, a party that can wrest seats from these Senas! He gave an open challenge on damaging every business even pertained to them. Still, my Government preferred to keep silent as they did not want to antagonize Marathi ego that can cost votes in the forth coming elections. Is speaking in Hindi, our national language anti-Marathi? If so, will these Thackreys reject Indian currency?

This man had the audacity to challenge the Police in a typical filmy fashion (he copied Amitabh style while opposing him in & out). An ordinary, decent citizen would think twice before uttering such words but these words were uttered by a leader of a political party! Still, my Government instead of appreciating and supporting this servant who did his duty kept silent & de-moralized the officer from doing his duty!

Mumbai, for its geographical location, would have been a popular city even if it falls under any State. The contribution of non-Marathis on the development of Mumbai cannot be ignored. By such deeds and inaction both the Thackreys and the Government are ensuring businessmen moving away from Mumbai. Already most of the industries are out of it. Now, they are desperate on driving out Bollywood. (They are selective again, why don’t they target Kapoors, Khans)

If the Senas proved that they are no different from the likes of Dawood Ibrahim, the inactive Government proves that they are hand in glove to these anti-national elements! Are not they both harmful to our nation?

Salaam Sportsmen!

Of late, I have been observing blogs ridiculing the celebrations of Indians for winning medals at Beijing Olympics. When our neighbor China has almost got 50 odd Gold medals silently, we are going over-board for a single Gold medal won. Why can’t India get more medals in such sporting events? Is this something to do with the race? If so, how can Chinese, who do not differ much from our race, can get more Gold medals and display the world that they are the real emerging Super Power?

I do agree that we are going overboard in celebrating the wins at Olympics, but we should not forget the efforts put in by our sportsmen in these events. Remember India who ranked second in the 1951 Asian Games, slipped to 4th rank in 1982 Asian Games. This again slipped to 8th slot in the previous 2 Asian Games. It does not mean that Indian sports arena is deteriorating. We remained stagnant while others improved.

While we ridicule the celebrations on winning these medals, we should throw light on the following that remains the causes of such a plight.

¨ How many of us would prefer our kids to choose a career in Sports apart from cricket?
¨ How many of us accept Sports as a curriculum of education?
¨ Which corporate company sponsors a sport other than cricket?
¨ Indian sportsmen (excluding cricketers and tennis players) are generally given a raw deal in terms of amenities provided. Usually, 20 are lodged in a room and 2 have to share a bed. The less we said about the facilities is better
¨ India is participating in 13 events only out of 34 Olympic events
¨ Our medal prospect is limited to six events namely shooting, archery, tennis, badminton, boxing and wrestling. Out of this six, we were sure that we will not get medal in tennis and badminton

Still, today, we have won 3 medals. I hope Virendar brings us a Silver or Gold. If not for the sake of nation, for the sake of dating Bipasha, Virendar has to win Gold. This is the ironical status of sports in our country!

Our sports authorities are busy playing politics than improving the sports quality in India. Courtesy, personal animosity, blaming false allegations, our authorities ensured no ticket to Monika for Beijing. All her hard-work just for this moment had gone waste. Truth prevailed but late. She lost the opportunity. Whether she would have won is another question but her hard work was not respected. The authorities who slammed false allegations on her are roaming scot-free! With such incidents happening, how can we expect our sportsmen to get motivated?

Sania’s mother can be a part of the team to Beijing but a genuine sportsperson is denied of that opportunity. Our sportsperson brought India medals from time and again despite these officials and authorities and not because of them. We had many a source of inspirations in form of Milkha Singh, Dhyan Chand, PT Usha, Shiny Wilson, Malleswari, Paes, Rathod etc., however, we failed to produce the likes of them.

To win a world cup starting from scratch in 3 hours is possible only on silver screen. If at all we dream of hosting Olympics by 2020 (I don’t know what magic lies in 2020), we have to start working from now. Every country that hosted Olympics found a place in the top 5 rankings. Prior to decide on hosting Olympics, we should work on improving the quality of our sports and sportsperson. At the least, we need 10 years to form a qualitative team. That should start from now. If we started that now, we can expect more medals in 2020!

Schools & Universities can play a pivotal role in this. Unfortunately, we lack the infra-structure. We are neither rich nor poor. We spend more on the security of our ministers and their kith & kin. Even if we spend 50% of what we spend on the fringe benefits of our so-called leaders and their security, we can build a decent infrastructure for sports! It is the high time we focused our efforts on improving the quality of sports and think beyond politics!

The unclear deal of nuclear deal

The nuclear deal issue has taken a back seat, courtesy, misrule of our Govt in Jammu and shorter memory of public affairs among us. The signing of deal was supposed to be the shot in the arm of the present government for which they staged a mockery of democracy in nation’s interest.

As expected the countries of NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) board have thrown the spoke on the wheels of progress on waiver draft pertaining to the nuclear deal between India and USA. Already this Govt is charged for having limited India's strategic options through a pact (that makes conducting a nuclear test difficult) and now with the opposition from NSG, India may be forced to accept new multilateral commitments as to empower the deal. The government might find it increasingly difficult to sell such a deal at home.

The opposition from NSG was expected by everyone, however, the experts in the Government failed to foresee the fiasco that happened at NSG. This Government had 3 full years to do home work on this subject but it preferred to sleep on it. In the last moment, it woke up and pretended to act. They were also ready to lose the government for this sake after enjoying power for almost full term doing nothing. Perhaps, we failed to take the confidence of other countries of NSG while maintaining our closer relationship with USA. The countries that oppose India’s deal are New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland. These countries insist that India sign the NPT. Brazil, South Africa are the other countries who support India.

Come what may, India should not accede to a ban on access to ENR (enrichment and reprocessing) technology. It is reported that our old friend Russia too had expressed reservations on transferring this technology to India. The Indian insistence on ENR technology was a big deal during the 123 negotiations with the US. The US, which has the most stringent laws on transferring ENR technology, has denied it to every country in the world, except Australia.

India possesses enrichment and reprocessing technology, and it has been completely indigenously developed by Dr Homi Sethna. Despite having both enrichment and reprocessing plants, India has not been able to scale up the technology to commercial levels.

This deal is critical to India not only in Power-generation sector but this could provide India a chance to become a supplier of low-cost nuclear reactors. After the successful inauguration of Kaiga 3 project in Karnataka, the 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactor will start generating power by this month end. The cost per KW installed is expected to be around Rs984/- (US$ 23) and we can eye on marketing this to countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The average market price is around Rs 1500/- per Kw. For this to happen, we have to win the confidence of NSG Board and this is possible only after we redraft our IAEA with US again.

If India has to get the deal cleared by the board of NSG, we have to re-initiate our negotiations with IAEA. This has to happen before November when they meet again. If we miss the bus this time, it would be a street of not-return for us. We are not sure how the ruling Government would approach this. Now, Left would fire on all cylinders to halt the progress of the Government in this regard. With elections due early next year and the political permutations & combinations are to take place for an alliance, Congress might find all the ways to delay this further. Instead, they might be on a hunt to find reasons as to blame the government that would succeed them.

Let us wait and see hoping whatever happens prove good for India.

Tolerance, Violence, Media and Society

Tolerance is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live & let others live. It is the ability to exercise a fair attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality etc., differ from one's own. Tolerance is not just agreeing with one another or remaining indifferent in the face of injustice, but rather showing respect for the essential humanity in every person.

Intolerance is the failure to appreciate & respect the practices, opinions & beliefs of another group. For instance, intolerances over issues could be of identity (caste, religion), self-determination, statehood, return right for refugees, etc. The result is continuing inter-group violence.

Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure (physically or mentally) or abuse. The word is used to describe a destructive action, forceful and intentional injury to people, damage to property and verbal & emotional abuse towards others.

With the lack of experience, individuals base their opinions of one another on assumptions. This can be influenced by the positive or negative beliefs of those who are most influential in their lives, (parents, family members, colleagues, educators, and/or role models). This leads to perpetuation of intolerance among individuals.

Individual attitudes are influenced by the images of other groups in the media and press. In education, there exists school curriculum & educational literature that provide biased and/or negative historical accounts of world cultures. Education or schooling based on myths can demonize and dehumanize other cultures rather than promote cultural understanding and a tolerance for diversity and differences.

Tolerating tolerance is preferable to tolerating intolerance. How can one be tolerant of those who are intolerant of them? For many, tolerating intolerance is neither acceptable nor possible. Being tolerant remains a key to easing hostile tensions between. In cases of violent conflict, being tolerant helps the affected groups endure the pain of the past and resolve their differences. Some ideas:

Individuals: Individuals should continually focus on being tolerant of others in their daily lives. This involves consciously challenging the stereotypes and assumptions that they typically encounter in making decisions about others and/or working with others either in a social or a professional environment.

Press Media: The media should use positive images to promote understanding and cultural sensitivity. The more people are exposed to positive media messages about other cultures, the less they are likely to find faults with one another. Particularly those communities, who have little access to the outside world and are susceptible to what the media tells them! Ironically, media opts for sensationalism & it indirectly perpetuates negative images of different groups. SHUN SENSATIONALISM!

Education: Educators are instrumental in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence. For instance, schools that create a tolerant environment help young people respect and understand different cultures.

Cinema: Stop glorifying violence and justifying terrorism. This is impossible as this entire media is sponsored by terrorists themselves. The irony is, we have more movie-watchers than blog-readers! They are powerful and if they mean it positive, they can do a world of good to the society!

Corruption & India

if you ask me whether we are willing to build a corruption-free society, then my answer is NO! Corruption has been, is and will be the biggest problem of India. People’s will forms democracy. If this is based on corruption, then stigma against corruption goes absent. Under such circumstances, the morale of the people goes down. They condone and develop tolerance.

Corruption can be defined as using the public office for private gain. It is anti-poor; anti-national & anti-development. More than the taker, it is the giver who commits a serious crime in corruption. We have accepted corruption as a way of our life. We failed to fight against corruption.

Might is right in a corrupted democracy. In our society, amassing wealth through corruption is a way of demonstrating one’s competence. This continues as it is not questioned. Adding insult to injury is, not only it is questioned but such people are respected. This gives legitimacy to amassment of wealth by wrong means. Corruption is either need-based or greed-based. If the corruption is because of need-based it can be tackled by meeting the requirements. If the corruption is of greed-based, that is the result of wrong social-values taught to the individuals. The worry is what starts off as need-based, turns into greed-based corruption once the need is taken care of.

When rulers are corrupt, the common man approaches the judicial system. If the judiciary itself is corrupted, where can he go? What legacy are we leaving to our generations? Can we find a man with character, integrity and honesty today?

Corruption is not confined to government organizations alone. To have a corruption-free India, we should have corruption-free states, for that we should have corruption-free districts, for which we should have corruption-free panchayats; in turn requires corruption-free individuals.

The objective of fighting corruption is to bring in an equitable society. Decision makers should be trust-worthy. More than legal & administrative measures, it needs moral up-gradation to build a corruption-free society. Integrity should be the pre-requisite for anybody to qualify for a job. Individuals must show courage to rise against corrupt practices. We remained silent when 2 young whistle blowers were brutally murdered after they showed courage to fight corrupt practices. Such men create an aggressive and strong public opinion against corruption.

Neutral agency to investigate corrupt practices that is more powerful than CVC, that is free from political influences is required. The crucial factor is honesty. Patriotism, honesty, integrity – a leader with these characteristics, who can put nation’s interest ahead of self-interest, is required. A good leader leads whereas a bad leader misleads. The press can play a big role. We should encourage journalists and editors who fight corrupt practices & injustice. We should not encourage sensationalism in the name of investigative journalism.

Strict enforcement of rules & regulations by the Government will go a long way in arresting corruption. It is the duty of the government to guard & cherish the citizens and to punish the criminals. Punishing the wicked criminals even with death is like weeding the productive crops by the farmer.

No missionary movement, but individual transformation is needed. Awareness against corruption has to be created among the people. Writers, thinkers and volunteers should rise up to the occasion. Let us not only stop accepting bribe but also stop giving bribe. Persistent attempts have to be made to create awareness in society in which the corrupt persons in public administration, political field and all other walks of life are not respected but condemned. Then only the corrupt people will begin to understand the folly of their impure life and begin to rectify themselves.

Education in India

The existing Indian educational system neither parts knowledge nor provides values to the future generation. It is unfortunate that such situation prevails in a land that had Gurukul system of education and had Universities like Takshila, Ujjain and Nalanda centuries ago.

The limitations of the present system are:
¨ It produces literates but not educated ones
¨ Intelligence is decided by one’s memory power and not by aptitude or application
¨ Lack of encouragement to creative thinking / research activities
¨ Lack of infrastructural facilities; lack of motivation to faculty
¨ Lack of moral education
¨ Sidelining Meritocracy in the name of Reservation
¨ Considering Educational institutions as business centers

The present system produced likes of M. S. Swaminathan, Dr.Varghese Kurien, Dr.Abdul Kalam - but they existed despite this system and not because of the system. Education should inspire, make one free, make one experiment & ask questions. It should make you realize what you are!

The vision of Education is to inculcate knowledge & power to the younger generation. Since long, we are used to teacher-centered education. It should be changed to student-centered. The vision of educational system is to make one self-reliant, self-confident to achieve their goals.

Not choosing a career of their choice is not the problem but, Indian children do not have the vision to think beyond is. So, we need a revolution that brings vast changes in our educational system.

Change the mindset: Education is not a ticket to get a job. Everyone cannot be an Engineer or a Doctor. Let your kids choose their career. Let them study what they want!

Strengthen Pre-primary schools: This should be our fundamental right. The access level of 11.2% is pathetic. Spend minimum of 5% of GDP towards this segment. Access & Quality should be the mantra. Writing should start from age 6. Education should be entertaining at Primary levels.

Go for the best talents in educational sector: Today, teaching is not a career of choice, but of compromise. Pay nuts – Get monkeys! Despite the fact that education is a money-minting industry in service sector, its workers are the least paid. Let’s change it.

World-class infrastructure: Schools & Colleges with libraries that has wide range of books, laboratories that house qualitative equipments, classrooms with more space and air, audio-video presentations, teacher to student ratio of 1:30 make a world class infrastructure for education.

Provide Education that encourages innovation and creativity: Evaluation should not be on basis of memory but on application and aptitude. Vocational courses, Presentations in seminars, group discussions, and Poster creation should be included. Extra curricular & Co-curricular activities should be a part of the syllabus.

One Syllabus for entire country: With the earth becoming flat, the concept of “sons-of-soil” students is dangerous. Students are forced to read 3 or more languages that are useless burden on them. Students should have the freedom to choose the languages they want to learn. Only 2 languages should be taught in the syllabus. Declare an official link language for the country. The different boards like State Board, CBSE, and ICSE should be merged into a single syllabus throughout the country. The Central Govt should accept the responsibility of educating Indians all over! All the universities should be linked and governed by an autonomous body centrally.

Flexible Option of subjects: Students should choose themselves the subjects they intend to learn. Do not group the subjects and restrict the options. This should start from higher secondary (after 10th).

Meritocracy: Reservation should be implemented only at the primary education level and not throughout the career. Seats can be reserved but should be filled in by deserving candidates only.

Businessmen &Politicians are to be kept away from Educational institutions and Syllabus selection as their prime goal is to make money and confuse people. Let corporate bodies sponsor but should not have a say in the routines.

Education builds a man and a nation. Unfortunately, we are not concerned about quality of the human-capital we build. To make India strong, we need to produce visionaries and not bureaucrats, professionals or clerks. A renaissance in the system has to happen as to achieve this.

Judicial slap

The ban on SIMI is lifted, courtesy, lethargic approach from the authorities who failed to provide sufficient proof of their anti-national activities. Repeatedly, our police forces confirmed the involvement of SIMI in the recent blasts that ripped our cities. However, they were unable to produce sufficient proof that goes as a surprise.

SIMI started as a student wing in 1977 just to liberate India from the impact of western culture, later slowly transformed into a terrorist organization. It perceived RSS as enemy of Muslim & to tackle it, it joined hands with Islamic terrorist groups. The very purpose of founding the organization got deviated with time.

SIMI was learnt to be the mother organization for Al-Umma that was behind the serial blasts of Coimbatore to kill L K Advani. SIMI was suspected to be involved in 2003 Mumbai blasts that killed 55 people. After the 9/11 incident, SIMI was banned and a periodical review of the ban was suggested. Many SIMI members were arrested under TADA. Came Congress rule, and TADA is lifted and these members are free.

On one side, the investigators claim that India Mujahideen is none other than SIMI. They claimed to have made a breakthrough with the arrest of SIMI members in the recent blasts case. However, this judgment gives a serious slap on the face of the judicial system per se. What next will happen is SIMI will float a political party. They will form a secular alliance with parties and even become ministers. Then who can try them let alone think of punishing!

We are aware of Indian judicial system that is keen on protecting innocents even if it meant leaving out the criminals. The lawyers don’t look for actual facts but for a case in trials. Most of their questions are leading questions and at times, these will be closed leading questions! The jury’s judgment is based on the answers given to those closed leading questions.

With elections in the recent future, with an eye on the minority votes, the ruling Government had asked its lawyers to go soft on this case. It is not new to us as such things do happen whenever a leader is tried in our courts. With a change in rule, the grip of the lawyers in the case varies. Precisely this has happened in this case too. Under such circumstances, one is driven to think that the Government is trying to make Sushma’s idiotic comments true.

The ruling Government has ensured appeasement of a particular community by going soft in this case. However, it has proved India as a soft-target to terrorists. We claim Islamic terrorism responsible for the violence spread across our country but support them indirectly. This provides more ammunition to our enemies, who can utilize this opportunity to kill us! This proves that for our rulers, vote is more important than the nation. This activity is nothing but a suicidal.

That's the way...... Mahi way!

No longer in India, talent has a relevance to the awards gifted. I intentionally use the phrase gifted as awards are nowadays gifted away as token of reciprocating gesture for some favor extended. Political implications are always there. You got it. This blog is about honoring Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Please do not ask me what Rajiv Gandhi has to do with Sports in India – I am clueless and all I know is Congress always maintained to name every action of theirs in their leaders’ name so the people would not forget them.

Dhoni is second to Sachin Tendulkar who was the only other cricketer to be awarded with this title. By all means, this award to Dhoni is too early. Dhoni has a long way to go and he has to prove himself as a good keeper, good batsman or a good captain. I do agree that media hype is there for him and even if he fails, that has been hailed as a big achievement. Dhoni is yet to prove himself in all aspects.

If at all the Government is interested in boosting sports as a career, it should look beyond cricket. Vishwanathan Anand is a Chess player who single-handedly gave India too much of recognition in the Chess arena and a generation followed him. There were stalwarts who brought us Medals single-handedly in Olympics and Asian games. They are not rewarded with this award.

Even if we consider cricket, there are others who deserves this award. Rahul Dravid is the next to Tendulkar in terms of runs scored for India and 3rd in the world to score more than 6000 runs away from home soil. He has scored 10000 runs in both versions of cricket and under his captaincy; Indian had won 16 ODI on a trot. He was neglected.

Anil Kumble is the next one who deserves this award. He has taken more number of wickets. Though repeatedly haunted for being an unconventional spinner, his tally will sure overtake the famous spin-quartet of India. He has always been a wicket-taking bowler for India whenever it needed. Jumbo is famous for his fighting spirit and is the only bowler to take all the 10 wickets in an innings apart from legendary Jim Laker.

If this is awarded for captaincy, then Azahruddin or Saurav Ganguly deserves this piece. Ganguly developed a team sense among Indian cricket. Till then, it was a game of individuals and Ganguly gave a fresh breath of younger talents and developed a future for Indian cricket. He should have been awarded.

As said earlier Dhoni has to prove himself. Unlike his predecessors, he is gifted with a ready made team of talented youngsters. Lady luck smiled on him but in recent tournaments lady luck did not favor Dhoni. Still, the media went on gaga over him. Had it been others, they would have been humiliated.

Dhoni on one single issue has overtaken Sachin, Kumble, Dravid or Ganguly that is earning more money apart from playing cricket – brand ambassador. If the Govt thought that this is the criteria for this award, then God help Indian sports.

Till recently, in India Mass and Class was discriminated. There were groups for the class (for example, Kamal, Aamir) and one for the mass (Rajini, Shahrukh). Awards were given to rarely known one based on talents. Alas! This trend has changed now. More the popular you are, more the awards you win. No longer have awards had relevance to talents. This is happening in every field. Under such circumstances Dhoni getting this reward is no surprise.

It is the high time; the authorities should realize that sports cannot be boosted just by giving popularity but by recognizing talents!

123 of nuclear deal

The reason why the 123 Agreement is important is more than the technical reasons; it is used or abused for political reasons. Whether one knows about it or not, but could not stop from making a comment on it. In 1974 after the Pokhran tests, all foreign assistances stopped immediately, that crippled our indigenous nuclear program. Since then, India pursued its independent nuclear program and refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The US administration had to change its own laws, which barred it from any nuclear cooperation with a country like India, a non-NPT member with an atomic weapons program. The waiver-law to begin nuclear collaboration with India was the Hyde Act. Having got the waiver, Indian & American officials had to negotiate a bilateral agreement; known as the 123 Agreement. It is the section 123 of US Atomic Energy Act 1954 that deals with nuclear co-operation of US with any foreign country.

Positive Points:

This deal would restore India's right to access its nuclear requirements in the international community.

It provides one time exception to India for keeping the nuclear weapons without signing the NPT.

It overturns a 3 decade-old US ban on supplying India with nuclear fuel and technology (in reciprocation,India must separate its civilian & military nuclear facilities, and submit civilian facilities to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)).

It strengthens international security by tightening US ties to ally India. It also ensures some of its nuclear industry will undergo international inspection.

India, which relies on imported oil for 70% of its energy needs, needs nuclear power that will help feed its expanding economy.

France, which signed a similar deal with India in February 2006, says the move will help fight climate change and aid non-proliferation efforts.

Negative Points:

Indian nuclear power plants are based on different technology than the technology United States is offering us ( heavy water)

The approval from IAEA and NSG is pending after which US Congress to give the final approval for this deal

It undermines the NPT, which states that only countries which renounce nuclear weapons qualify for civilian nuclear assistance.

It could open the way for a potential arms race in South Asia.

Out of 22, 14 Indian nuclear facilities are civilian. Critics say the pact could make bomb making at the other eight easier, as civilian nuclear fuel needs will be met by the US

Global positioning:

Pakistan, the only other confirmed nuclear power not to have signed the NPT, will sign the deal only if India did.

Pakistan's expanding nuclear program could aggravate the rivalry between us.

China supports Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. Some analysts see the Indo-US deal as part of attempts by the US and China, to shore up influence in South Asia by building up rival arsenals.

The IAEA said in 2004 that Libya and Iran's nuclear programs were based on Chinese technology provided by Pakistan.

This deal would benefit India as we would get access to atomic power reactors and 'dual use' technologies useful for its space, medicine and biotechnology programs. It could also sell its expertise and products. However, India has to place the 14 civilian reactors under safeguards from the IAEA. As a reciprocation gesture, we will be assured of fuel supplies for civilian reactors. Already 6 of our reactors are under safeguard of IAEA. With limited quantities of Uranium, this may be useful to us.

The 123 substantially meets Indian concerns on reprocessing (re-using) spent fuel, assures it of nuclear fuel supplies and crucially, does not stop India's right to test a nuclear device, if required. It permits nuclear trade, transfer of nuclear material, equipment, components and related technology and cooperation in the civil nuclear fuel cycle between India and the US. It allows India to create a reserve of nuclear fuel for each of its civilian reactors and provides guarantees for perpetual supply of fuel in case there is a problem.

Hurdles:

Who would ensure that the fuel supplied for civilian reactors are not used for military purposes (by other countries esp Pakistan)?

What will be the effect on Indian Foreign policy (particularly pertaining to Islamic countries who view US as anti-Islam)?

Politicization of this issue.

BJP initiated it but opposes now because Congress would hijack the credentials for this.

Communists, who are more patriotic to China than India would certainly oppose paving way for smaller parties to bargain hidden agenda in the name of avoiding untimely elections!

Shinijini - Peer Pressure

If it was Scarlet and Arushi sometime back, it is the turn of Shinjini Sengupta now. For those who could not figure out, let me give an introduction. Shinjini Sengupta is one of the millions of aspirers who hunt numerous channels of Indian Satellite Television to take part in the so-called reality shows. Unfortunately, Shinjini is not as strong as others to take the comments hurled on her, she fell into coma at this tender age. News channels as usual without getting into details have started blaming the judges and the harsh comments they use!

Reality Show is the name coined for “talent” show. However, the fact is neither there is reality nor there is a display of talent in these shows. All of us are aware that the events are stage-managed and a repeat of rehearsals. The irony is, the winners of such shows have no relation to talent. The winners are chosen not by judges but by the common public who lack total knowledge on the subjects. I can’t assure you that the judges are right choices. The public with the weapon of voting in hand always goes against the judges. Emotion wins (as we are famous for allowing our heart to rule our brains) and crying is a part & parcel of the show!

A singer does not need to be a sureela but X factor is a must. Or else, you lose! As per this rule, even Lata would fail in these talent contests! The failure of these winners to make it big in any field is a proof to this. The involvement of public serves multi-purpose to the channel owners. Some of them are:.

¨ By means of involvement, they guarantee the viewer-ship and boast of their TRP ratings.
¨ By way of SMS, they ensure revenue (33% from Service providers)
¨ They gage the market on whom to count for the release of future albums!

We need money & fame but without hard-work. We want it faster too! Such shows help us to achieve such goals. Obviously, the future generation, pounces on such opportunities. In olden days, any tussle between judges & the participants or any opinion differences of judges were edited considering decency. Nowadays, only these incidents are repeatedly shown as promotional trailers. As to hog the limelight, they hurl the comments in harsh manner. Audience needs masala so provide it!

The contestants, when they are ready to enjoy privileges of winning should be ready to withstand the abuse hurled on them in the form of comments. One may not know the comments of public may be harsher! Wining and losing are part of the game. It seems the contestants have not realized it. These contests are not their careers. Opinion differs and winning a contest does not measure your talent or success! The history says so! None of the winners of such shows have made it so big barring a few (Shreya, Kunal but those days people did not judge the winners).

These should be explained to contestants and their parents as well! I have already written 3 blogs on the peer pressure applied on Indian Kids and I do not want to repeat them here again. I am not a medical expert but I don’t think one can fall in coma just by a single harsh comment. The girl might be suffering from depression for quite long which the parents would have not observed. More than the fear of failure, the fear of parents does drive the kids to depression. Will the parents realize this? I do agree that the competition is severe. I do have a kid and I am worried when he behaves carelessly. As matured personnel, we need to handle the issue gently.

Though unfortunate, this incident is a lesson to parenting, conducting a contest with right judges, responsible journalism in reporting the facts and not sensationalism. Alas! We failed in all the three. It is the high time we learnt from this.

Past is Past - let us look ahead!

Any journey down the memory lane is enjoying. I played only street cricket still, when we won the Prudential Cup in 1983, I felt as if I were a part of the Indian team! Till 1979, no team had won the West Indies in the Prudential Cup. When Sri Lanka scored a point against West Indies, courtesy rain spoilt match, Sri Lankan captain Tenekon joked that Sri Lanka was the first team to score a point against West Indies.

June 9, 1983, the World Cup-3 started and produced two great upsets of the cup. Zimbabwe aided by Duncan Fletcher beat Australia. The second upset involved India who had won only one match till then beating East Africa in 1975. The game between India and Windies started late due to rains. Yashpal scored 80+ runs and it was Sandhu’s swing sent Greenidge back home. Earlier, Sandhu dismissed Greenidge in a similar fashion at Trinidad. Then it was Madan and Binny who wrapped the rest of the team on 10th of June (as the play continued for the next day) not before Roberts and Garner gave us jitters with a 71 run stand.

The other league games did not worth mentioning, however, the glaring feature being Sunil Gavaskar turning out to be the Lucky- face of India. India lost both the games in which Sunil Gavaskar was rested. Vengsarkar was hit on the chin by Marshall and he was rested for the rest of the world cup.

On June 18, India faced Zimbabwe, who were all set to stage another upset. India was 4 wickets down for mere 9 runs and sooner it was 17 for five. Kapil dev ably supported by Kirmani, Madan and Binny scored a magnificent 175 of 138 balls with 19 fours and 6 sixes. No doubt, it was the mother of all “victory-steered-by-single-man”. Any defeat in Turnbridge Wells would have ruled out India from the race. Still, it was not over. We have to beat Australia to book a berth to semi-Finals. Srikkanth, Yashpal, Patil and Extras helped us to score a win over Australia.

With five wins from six league matches, England was over-confident to discuss their strategy for finals & not to bother about semi-finals. Though they started off well, the brilliant fielding of India put pressure on them. The direct throw by Yashpal to run out Lamb was the pick of the lot. Kirti Azad who had bowled only 2 overs till then was tried against Botham and he responded well by taking his wicket. This match produced highest opening partnership in the World cup-3 for India. Srikkanth & Gavaskar carved out a nice innings followed by Mohinder & Yashpal. However, it was Sandip Patil with his 32 ball knock of 51 made things pretty easier. England took time to come out of the shock and Gower responded saying, “Indians learnt that fielding can win matches and it was Kapildev’s captaincy brought them their deserving victory!”

The following weekend was so special not because it was the last day of my summer vacation but I got a chance to track the Prudential Cup Final. We did not have a television set at home and was hooked onto commentary. I lived in a place then named Tiruvallikkeni (Triplicane of Chennai) where everyone would discuss on any subject for hours together and if it meant cricket, then would discuss for days! So, we did a community-listening of the commentary.




Obviously, the organizers were not enthusiastic as none thought India would play Windies in the final. The turnout was poor as it seemed to be a one-sided match! Old war horse Clive won the toss & chose to field hoping to cash on the early dews. As expected Marshall got rid of Sunil Gavaskar in the 3rd over however, Srikkanth provided some drama as he hooked Roberts for a four. He was met with a faster bouncer now but Cheeka pulled this one now for a six! The third one was a superb cover drive from Cheeka that was belted to four again! In the earlier over he sliced Garner over the slips for a four! In all, Cheeka scored 7 boundaries and a six in his 38. From 100/4, we kept on losing wickets. Thanks to runs from Madan, Kirmani and Sandhu, and of course extras we posted a respectable total of 183.

The result was written on the wall. The entire cricket fraternity knew it’s a cake-walk for Windies! Kapil set a fielding as if it were a Test Match. Then, Sandhu produced the gem of an in-swinger (banana-skin swinger) that deceived Greenidge (for the 3rd time) and hit the stumps. Richards, the master-blaster walked in & started belting all around. In such an over-confident pull that skied high, Kapil ran behind to hold-on the one-of-the-best catches in ODI history! Richards (33 from 28) was out and the score read 50 for 2. Panic prevailed now in Windies camp. Not used to over-cautious approach, Windies started breaking down aided by tight bowling from Binny and Madan. Bacchus was hit on stumps by a direct throw from Srikkanth however; the umpire could not see it as the bowler came in-between. However, this did not cost us much as Bacchus was out next over! Then Dujon and Marshal started to build the innings for Windies.

Then Mohinder was brought into the attack. In a sense of urgency, Dujon played on and the reaction expressed by him told that Windies have already lost the match. After that it was all ritualistic and India wrapped the trophy in an unexpected manner. It was all fine till here!

The lesson we learn from the history is “we do not learn from the history!” When India won the World Cup, we had no stars but we had a team. The team composition was excellent. Contrasting openers one conventional and the other totally opposite, splendid support down the order from Mohinder, Vengsarkar, Yashpal, Patil. It had performing all-rounders in Kapildev, Kirti Azad, Madanlal, and Binny. Kirmani the keeper with useful bat. Seam bowlers who can swing was our weapon. We had disciplined bowlers in Sandhu, Madan, and Binny to exploit the English conditions.

The typical composition won India another trophy in 1985 at Australia against all teams! Alas! After that neither India got a team nor did it win! In today’s team, we have stars but no team. Cricket has become more of money-game than sports!

We, Indians are famous for basking in past glory. We did the same in hockey, we are doing it to Chess and now it is the turn of Cricket! These trophies should be an inspiration to us but we enjoy this as an entertaining episode! Gavaskar was made to sit out when he did not perform whereas we cannot do this to Dhoni or Sachin! Meritocracy had a place and not zonal quota system of selection.

If we are not ready to learn even now, we can do in what we have the mastery (by doing it again and again) – Basking in past glory!